Save the gay penguins

The children’s book about gay penguin dads Roy an Silo, And Tango Makes Three , describing their antics in hatching and raising a chick together at the New York Zoo, has been pulled from the shelves of Loudoun County Virginia (Washington, DC area) after one activist parent complained.

Several news articles and blog posts cover more of this story.  (And yes please, I know that the couple split up.)

Some of these news stories are reporting that the decision to pull the book from the shelves of the Elementary schools but keep it available for use by teachers or parents is a compromise.  But the group Equality Loudon clarifies that it is far from that: (emphasis original)

“Let’s be perfectly clear about this. It is not a compromise. The book is not on the shelf. Parents have no way of knowing it is available. No other books from the “professional collection” are made available to parents. Teachers, knowing that their Superintendent has pulled it from the shelf, will be afraid to use it in the classroom. It might as well not be there at all. “

This issue is still being discussed at the school board level.  According to the Washington Post, John Stevens, a school board member from Potomac, criticized the Superintendent’s decision. Under the heading “Put The Penguins Back,” he wrote on his blog that the policies, last reviewed in 1993, are “deeply flawed and led to a bad decision.  The school should not be an instrument of censorship for parents who want veto power over the judgment of other parents.”

Stevens intends to propose a new set of policies at a committee meeting March 4.

If you are a resident of Loudoun County, please consider following up on this issue at the Equality Loudoun website, which has more information and instructions on how to contact school board members to voice your opinion.

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